Thursday, 18 June 2009

Epson Wireless Made Easy

I had one of my worst technological experiences last night, trying to setup an Epson wireless printer for a friend. Never in my life have I come across a bigger piece of crap, the software was the most un-intellectual load of shit. How the layman is supposed to pop down to Curry's and pick one up I have no idea, I think it is safe to say that using the provided software, it is impossible to get more than one machine working with the printer:

  1. For a start, the software is different to how it is described in the manual.
  2. The "Easy" setup and "Advanced" setup are not just different in their skill requirements, but they offer you options you cannot find in the other. For example, to setup a second computer with the printer, you have to go on the easy option, wtf??
  3. The easy option does not offer you the option of setting up with a cable, rather than wireless, you have to go on advanced for that.
  4. The wireless setup flatly did not work, I took all security off the wireless and it still would not connect.
  5. Finding the only option would be to cable the printer in with Ethernet, I managed to get one computer printing OK, for the second I tried the first time setup option, just to see, but it stopped the first one working!! Even if I put the same IP address in etc, it still would not work with both computers, I didn't get what it was changing at all. Thinking back, maybe I should have tried web access to the print server, but not even sure it had web management.
  6. The easy install would setup one computer OK, like the advanced install, but setting up the second computer, just stopped the first working again. This remember, is on the easy install, which the average person is going to use. The rest of it worked OK, but it just failed to do the setup properly.
  7. The other thing with the easy install, at one point, you have to take the USB cable connecting the printer and the print server and plug the print server end into the computer, I guess so it can install the printer drivers (although you don't have to do that on the advanced install, go figure). This continues the install OK, but a few screens on, it complains that the print server cannot be found properly, NO SHIT, THE USB CABLE IS IN THE COMPUTER. So you have to put it back into the printer to carry on. This is fine, but the wizard does not tell you this. Did a bunch of fucking chimps design this shit? Did they try and follow their own software when they finished it.
Anyway, that's the main points that seriously pissed me off. I was seriously speechless by the end of it. I just felt stupid, surely I was doing something wrong, but I tried so many different ways to get the thing to work, in the end I was just wasting my time, told my friend to take it back, not fit for purpose. I feel sorry for anyone how has bought one of these things.

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